Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 October 2012
139. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to address the shortage in frontline outdoor local authority staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46846/12]
View answerThe local government sector has been at the forefront in driving greater efficiencies and securing financial savings during the financial crisis. In this regard, payroll savings have been delivered mainly through staff reductions of almost 8,600 (23%) from 37,243 (June 2008) to 28,652 (September 2012). The departure of 8,600 staff from the sector since 2008 has inevitably impacted in different ways upon individual local authorities. My Department and local authorities have prioritised the examination of the present and future workforce demographic in the context of service delivery, organisational diversity, knowledge transfer, up-skilling/re-skilling and succession planning.
To support the sector in effectively managing the combination of staff reductions and the reform/change programme a Workforce Study has been undertaken jointly by local authorities and my Department. In particular, the study assesses the management requirements of local authorities bearing in mind the potential impacts of shared services and other reform initiatives underway. Each local authority is in turn preparing a detailed workforce plan outlining how it will implement the study’s recommendations. The individual local authority work force studies will examine all categories of local authority staff including outdoor staffing requirements.
